23 March 1995

Doc. 7262

REPORT on membership of the Parliamentary Assembly delegation to the Joint Committee

(Rapporteur: Mrs LENTZ-CORNETTE, Luxembourg, Group of the European People's Party)

I. Draft resolution

1.       The Parliamentary Assembly stresses the importance of the Joint Committee's function as a body enabling the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly to confer together and co-ordinate their work.

2.       It notes that the provisions governing the Joint Committee, especially the membership of the Assembly delegation, are partly outdated.

3.       The Assembly therefore decides:

a.       to amend Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure as follows:

      i.       paragraph 1, after the words "Joint Committee" insert the words "and the enlarged Joint Committee", and replace the words "equal number" by the words "corresponding number";

      ii.       replace paragraph 2 by the following text:

      "2.       The President of the Assembly shall act ex officio as President of the Joint Committee. The representatives of the Assembly on the Joint Committee and the enlarged Joint Committee shall be:

      —th       e members of the Bureau;—

      —on       e representative of each parliamentary delegation of member states that do not have a seat on the Bureau.If

      If a vice-president of the Assembly is prevented from attending a meeting of the Joint Committee or of the enlarged Joint Committee, his/her delegation may appoint another member.

      The President of the Assembly may co-opt members, including rapporteurs and/or the chairpersons of the committees concerned, according to the agenda of the Joint Committee or the enlarged Joint Committee."

b.       to amend Rule 55, paragraph 2, sub-paragraph 2, as follows: before the words "the Committee on Rules of Procedure" insert the words "the Joint Committee, the enlarged Joint Committee,";

c.       to amend Rule 55a, paragraph 6, sub-paragraph 2, as follows: before the words "the Committee on Rules of Procedure" insert the words "the Joint Committee, the enlarged Joint Committee,".

4.       The Assembly also considers that it would be useful to update Statutory Resolution (51) 30 C on the Joint Committee as part of the current reform of working methods.

II. Explanatory memorandum

by Mrs LENTZ-CORNETTE

A. Introduction

1.       At its meeting on 27 June 1994 the Bureau instructed the Committee on Rules of Procedure to examine the rules governing participation in Joint Committee meetings.

      B. Statutory provisions and regulations governing membership

of the Joint Committee and participation in its meetings

2.       The Assembly originally regarded the Joint Committee as the embryo of a European executive,1 but in the end it had to adopt a less ambitious point of view. The proposal to set up a Joint Committee was approved by the Committee of Ministers in June 1950 and by the Assembly in August 1950. As part of work on the amendment of the Statute, provisions governing the Joint Committee were included in Statutory Resolution (51) 30 C of the Committee of Ministers on the Joint Committee (see Appendix I).

3.       On a proposal by the Assembly, the Committee of Ministers agreed in 1957 and 1963 to increase the number of representatives on the Joint Committee, bringing it up to one for each member state, with a corresponding number of Parliamentary Assembly members. The principle of balanced representation of the Assembly and the Committee of Ministers on the Joint Committee still holds.

4.       Since 1951 the Assembly Rules of Procedure have contained a rule on the Joint Committee, currently worded as follows:

"Rule 51

Joint Committee

      1.       The Joint Committee shall consist of a representative of each member government and an equal number of representatives of the Assembly, including the President of the Assembly. For the discussion of a particular question, the membership of the committee may be increased by agreement.

      2.       The President of the Assembly shall act ex officio as Chairman of the Joint Committee. The other representatives of the Assembly shall be appointed by the Standing Committee from among its members.

      The Standing Committee shall also appoint alternates upon whom the President may call to replace representatives who are unable to attend a meeting. The alternates need not necessarily have the same nationality as the representatives."

5.       Statutory Resolution (51) 30 C and Rule 51 of the Assembly Rules of Procedure initially covered only meetings of the Joint Committee at ministerial level. In 1956 the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly agreed that ministers appointed to sit on the

Joint Committee might be replaced by their deputies whenever the President of the Assembly considered it advisable to convene the Joint Committee at Deputy level.

6.       On a proposal by the Assembly, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs agreed in 1961 to take part in a colloquy with members of the Assembly in what was in effect to be an expanded version of the Joint Committee.

7.       Neither Statutory Resolution (51) 30 C nor Rule 51 of the Rules of Procedure have been updated to take account of enlarged Joint Committee meetings (colloquy). However, a footnote to Rule 51 states that:

      "The Joint Committee in an enlarged form, at foreign minister level, shall meet as a colloquy once a year for a free discussion of subjects chosen by common accord by the Committee of Ministers and the Bureau of the Assembly. The Assembly's delegation shall then consist of the members of the Standing Committee and of the committee(s) which is/are competent to deal with these subjects."

8.       No reference is made in the above provisions to observers or special guests. That is why the Bureau of the Assembly emphasised in May 1976 that the admission of observers to the Joint Committee required the agreement of the Committee of Ministers. In November 1979 the Bureau concluded that the Assembly did not have the power to decide to include members of the Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe in its Joint Committee delegation.

9.       Lastly, it is worth pointing out that Article 45 of the draft revised Statute of the Council of Europe, appended to Recommendation 1212 (1993), stipulates that: "The Joint Committee shall be composed of an equal number of members of the Committee of Ministers and representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly, appointed in accordance with its Rules of Procedure. It may hold meetings in restricted composition to consider a particular question" (see Appendix II).

C. Membership of the Assembly's Joint Committee delegation

in practice

10.       According to Rule 51, paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure, representatives of the Assembly on the Joint Committee (except the President who acts ex officio as Chair of the Joint Committee) shall be appointed by the Standing Committee from among its members. In practice, however, particularly since 1980, the Assembly delegation has more often than not been appointed on an ad hoc basis. The President of the Assembly has been empowered to convene the Chairs of the national delegations (or their substitutes) and, depending on the subjects chosen for the Joint Committee, the rapporteur(s) (and even all the members) of the committee(s) concerned.

11.       Accordingly, since 1980 the Assembly list has no longer given fixed membership for the Joint Committee, valid for the parliamentary year.

D. Proposals

a.       Situation of Assembly representatives and substitutes

12.       The Committee on Rules of Procedure discussed the following options for membership of the Assembly delegation to the Joint Committee:

      i.       members of the Bureau plus one representative of each national delegation that does not have a seat on the Bureau; possibility for the President of the Assembly to co-opt members depending on the agenda of the Joint Committee/enlarged Joint Committee, including rapporteurs and/or the chairpersons of the committees concerned;

      ii.       members of the Bureau and the chairpersons of the Assembly committees, to whom could be added one member for each delegation which is not already represented in some way;

      iii.       one member per national delegation, including the President of the Assembly.

13.       The following points were raised during the discussions:

      —th       e need to ensure that all member states are represented in the Assembly delegation;—

      —th       e need to limit the number of members and maintain the balance between the Assembly and Committee of Ministers delegations to the Joint Committee;—

      —th       e fact that the President of the Assembly should be empowered to co-opt certain members depending on the agenda of the Joint Committee/enlarged Joint Committee.14

14.       The Committee finally endorsed your rapporteur's views that alternative i above (paragraph 12) meets the requirements best. It enables the Assembly to be satisfactorily represented on the Joint Committee, while ensuring the necessary flexibility since it will be possible to co-opt members closely concerned by particular agenda items. If a Vice-President of the Assembly is prevented from attending a meeting of the Joint Committee his/her delegation must also be able to appoint another member.

15.       Accordingly Rule 51 of the Rules of Procedure will have to be amended. A draft resolution has been prepared for the purpose.

b.       Situation of special guests and observers

16.       On account of the principle of balanced representation of the Assembly and the Committee of Ministers on the Joint Committee (see paragraph 3 above), the Bureau has always held that it was impossible, without the prior agreement of the Committee of Ministers, to include in the Assembly delegation persons who are neither representatives nor substitutes to the Assembly.

17.       A further problem arises from the fact that there is no voting on the Joint Committee (see paragraph iii.c of Resolution (51) 30 C, Appendix I). If observers or special guests were admitted to the Joint Committee with the right to speak, there would in practice be no difference between them and the Assembly Representatives and Substitutes.

18.       Taking into account these considerations, two solutions might be envisaged for the representation of special guest/observer delegations on the Joint Committee:

      —Jo       int Committee meetings in two parts (subject to the agreement of the Committee of Ministers), one open to special guests/observers and the other reserved for members of the Assembly;—

      —pr       oposal to the Committee of Ministers that one representative of each parliament holding special guest status/observer status be admitted to future Joint Committee meetings, without the right to speak (or, alternatively, in an advisory capacity subject to the President's prior authorisation).19

19.       However, at its meeting on 31 January 1995 the Committee on Rules of Procedure agreed that observers and special guests should not be admitted to the Joint Committee/enlarged Joint Committee (colloquy) meetings. Corresponding provisions should be included in Rules 55 and 55a of the Rules of Procedure.

E. Final comments

20.       The Assembly could take this opportunity of drawing the Committee of Ministers' attention, in the draft resolution, to the need to update Statutory Resolution (51) 30 C on the Joint Committee. The Committee of Ministers had already intended in 1963 "to amend the relevant clause in the decision by which this committee was set up" (see Doc. 1684, page 7).

21.       The Committee on Rules of Procedure has decided to present this report to the Standing Committee.

APPENDIX I

Excerpt from

Resolution (51) 30 of the Committee of Ministers

adopted on 3 May 1951

Joint Committee

i.       The Joint Committee is the organ of co-ordination of the Council of Europe. Without prejudice to the respective rights of the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly, the functions of the Joint Committee shall be, in particular:

      a.       to examine the problems which are common to those two organs;

      b.       to draw the attention of those two organs to questions which appear to be of particular interest to the Council of Europe;

      c.       to make proposals for the draft Agenda of the sessions of the Committee of Ministers and of the Parliamentary Assembly;

      d.       to examine and promote means of giving practical effect to the recommendations adopted by one or other of these two organs.

ii.       a.       The Joint Committee shall be composed in principle of twelve members, five representing the Committee of Ministers and seven representing the Parliamentary Assembly, the latter number to include the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, who shall be a member ex officio.

      The number of members may be increased by agreement between the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly. Nevertheless, the Committee of Ministers shall, at its discretion, be entitled to increase the number of its representatives by one or two.

      b.       The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly shall each be free to choose its own method of selecting its representatives on the Joint Committee.

      c.       The Secretary General shall be entitled to attend the meetings of the Joint Committee in an advisory capacity.

iii.       a.       The President of the Parliamentary Assembly shall be the Chairman of the Joint Committee.

      b.       No proceedings of the Committee shall be regarded as valid unless there is a quorum consisting of three of the representatives of the Committee of Ministers and five of the representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly.

      c.       The conclusions of the Joint Committee shall be reached without voting.

      d.       The meetings of the Joint Committee shall be convened by the chairman and shall take place as often as is necessary and, in particular, before and after the sessions of the Committee of Ministers and of the Parliamentary Assembly.

      e.       Subject to the foregoing provisions, the Joint Committee may adopt its own Rules of Procedure.

APPENDIX II

Draft revised Statute of the Council of Europe2

Chapter VI — Joint Committee

Article 45

a.       The Joint Committee is the structure of concertation and co-ordination between the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Without prejudice to the competences of each of these two organs, the functions of the Joint Committee should be, in particular:

      i.       to consider problems which are common to both organs;

      ii.       to draw attention to questions which appear to be of particular interest to the Council of Europe, particularly the political aspects of European co-operation;

      iii.       to make proposals for the draft agenda of the sessions of the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly.

b.       The Joint Committee shall be composed of an equal number of members of the Committee of Ministers and Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly, appointed in accordance with its Rules of Procedure. It may hold meetings in restricted composition to consider a particular question.

c.       The Joint Committee shall meet as often as may be necessary. It shall meet at least once a year at ministerial level.

d.       The Joint Committee shall be chaired by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly.

e.       The Secretary General shall attend meetings of the Joint Committee.

f.       The conclusions of the Joint Committee shall be reached without voting.

g.       Subject to the above provisions, the Joint Committee may adopt its own Rules of Procedure.

      Reporting committee: Committee on Rules of Procedure.

      Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None.

      Reference to committee: Bureau decision of 27 June 1994 of which the Assembly took note on 3 October 1994.

      Draft resolution unanimously adopted by the committee on 31 January 1995.

      Members of the committee: Sir Anthony Durant (Chairman), Mrs Lentz-Cornette, Mr Rewaj (Vice-Chairpersons) (Alternate: Mr Jaskiernia), Mrs Aguiar, MM. Alloncle, B. Bjarnason, Borg, Cummings (Alternate: Dunnachie), Djerov, Mrs Fernandez Ramiro, Lord Finsberg, MM. Gabrielescu, Galanos (Alternate: Christodoulides), Mrs Holand, MM. Kastanidis (Alternate: Liapis), Laakso, Lorenzi, Loukota, Lund, Magnusson, Marten, Maruflu, Masson, Mignon, Prokes, Pukl, Rhinow, Schieder, Schloten, von Schmude, Selva, Soldani, Szabó, Thissen, Wallace, Zijlstra.

      N.B.       The names of those members who took part in the vote are printed in italics.

      Secretary to the committee: Mr Heinrich.

1 ¹See AS/Bur (1955) PV 12, item 6.

2 ¹Excerpt from Recommendation 1212 (1993).